Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald (Hardcover)

~ (Author) "It was early in August of 1872 when I was first introduced to golf..." (more)
Key Phrases: gold mashie, punchbowl green, golf architecture, National Golf Links, Seth Raynor, Long Island (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

George Bahto's "The Evangelist of Golf" is the definitive work detailing the course layouts and historical contributions of two of the great masters of the craft. Charles Blair Macdonald and his protege, Seth Raynor, are widely recognized as two of the 20th century's greatest golf course architects, and "The Evangelist of Golf" is a compelling study of their work and their lasting influence on the game. With an impressive array of stunning original images, this pictorial is as comprehensive as it is attractive.

From the Inside Flap

Charles Blair Macdonald may very well be one of the most influential persons in American golf history. He was instrumental in the establishment of the United States Golf Association, but more importantly, he brought into existence some of America's greatest golf course designs -- with the National Golf Links of America on Long Island, New York, being his most acclaimed work. His protégé, Seth Raynor, has also been recognized as one of America's great architects of the twentieth century. In this visually stunning book, author George Bahto presents a compelling look into the work of Macdonald, Raynor, and associate Charles Banks. The book includes an impressive array of rare vintage photographs, detailed course layouts, and sketches of many of their most highly regarded hole designs.

For the golf architecture historian, this is a treasure trove of information that includes a composite listing of all their courses along with a detailed time line of events that chronicles the rise and eventual decline of this group's monumental effort in design. In the tradition of recent architectural classics, The Evangelist of Golf joins Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect and His Golf Courses and The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie to form a rare and beautiful triumvirate. Sit back, read, and enjoy.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Wiley (November 29, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1886947201
• ISBN-13: 978-1886947207
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 10.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #290,215 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing and enlightening, February 4, 2006

By	3foot1 (Lakeville, CT United States) - See all my reviews

Not QUITE the usual coffee-table sized book, this rich volume taught me more about golf course architecture - really, the thought behind a thinking-player's course - than anything else I've read. Yes, it's a professional biography of one architect, with a lot about his protege, Seth Raynor, but MacDonald was the consummate perfectionist, studying the subject and contemplating his creations perhaps more deeply than anyone else.

The result of his research and reflection was a career marked by the quality rather than the quantity of his work. His courses are timeless, incorporating a similar "menu" of classic holes modified and improved to fit the local terrain and prevailing conditions.

Bahto's account of MacDonald's life and work is refreshingly frank and conversational. He makes no attempt to gloss over MacDonald's cranky arrogance, perhaps because such a temperament is so often linked to genuis. In my opinion this gives the text extra credibility, as do Bahto's wonderfully precise schematic diagrams of so many of MacDonald's creations.

My only complaint is that the quality of the photographs is very uneven and often poor. It's a shame that the publisher couldn't have waited a year or two and sent a professional to shoot the holes with a high-res camera in good light. I wouldn't have wanted to see calendar-style glossies, but I would have enjoyed higher contrast, less grainy photographs to match the clear and illuminating prose.

Despite this minor quibble I'm giving the book a top rating, for it illustrates the Purpose behind deliberate, elegant - yet always playful - golf course design at its highest level. If you can, give this to someone who loves golf and takes it seriously. It would be a wonderful way of showing them how much you appreciate their passion for the game.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great National Golf Links Coverage, September 24, 2004

By	Froggy (San Francisco, California) - See all my reviews

This is an awesome review of C.B. MacDonald but is mainly a book about the road to creating the National Golf Links.

Of course, there's a healthy dose of Raynor as well, but this makes complete sense. Whereas MacDonald would create the course designs and plans, Raynor would most often turn around and handle the course development.

I think the research and the writing behind this from Bahto is most excellent + no sugar coating. Simple honest unbiased delivery of what happened and how, but even more importantly you will "know" the National.

Picture wise, I thought the historical pics were very interesting. However, I thought it was rather difficult to match up any "pre" and "post" pics for any of the changes that took place to any of the holes being described. Furthermore, there were several recent color pics that were repeated in various sections. Unfortunately, I didn't think several of the pictures conveyed what the text was trying to explain at times. Few angles were used to show by pictures what was making each and every hole so special.

Other than that, I highly recommend this book for its content. Very well done overall. Above all, the description of each hole and how they work together to create a seamless golfing experience is the best I've read thus far. The supporting hole drawings help as well to complete the course visualizing. I just think I could visit the National tomorrow and would be as ready as possible to play it from a course management perspective. You just sense you'd know what to look out for and appreciate.

There's also a strong review of the Yale course and I think the Lido review, although brief, was most interesting. What a course the Lido must have been to play.

Excellent.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what term describes "beyond must read", December 30, 2002

By A Customer

The "Evangalist" should be sufficient to re-direct the path of contemporary golf course design from its current preoccupation with window dressing and waterfalls to the structural soundness and strategic integrity inherent in Macdonald/Raynor's work. Devotees of this book will require hospitalization the next time they hear the hot architect of the day say that he doesn't want to adapt old principles when there are "so many new strategies yet to be developed".